(some of the stupid things I do)

Week ending 4/7/13 and a new physio

Last week was another FAIL in the squat department. I really need to train with others for better squats! Maybe next week I will squat in the gym instead of at home.

Bench was ok, but not quite what I wanted. Still got a PB for reps.

Deadlift was surprisingly easier than expected. Perhaps because this was at the gym? Other people’s weights always feel lighter than my own.

2 weeks to the comp, and at this point I am expecting to match my squat and bench PBs, and hoping to hit a 150kg deadlift…. although I’m almost wondering if 150 is too soft now 😉

I had planned a bushwalk / run / hobble on Friday, but the week was catching up to me and I felt very tired. When I got home from work in the morning, I had breakfast to see if that would wake me up, but was still so overcome with tiredness that I lay down for a bit… and woke up 3 hours later. Guess I needed it.

I was recently reminded of The Best Physio Ever, who, a few years ago, fixed my ankle in 5 minutes, and I was 100% pain free for a few weeks. Basically he dug into my lower back, around the sacroilliac joint, and instantly my achillies/ankle area was fixed. I was in so much disbelief that I went for a 25km run with plenty of hills to see if I could break it, and it was fine! Unfortunately this guy is no longer working, so I can’t get him to fix me again.

I’ve told this to every other person I’ve seen about my ankle, hoping they would think, “OK, that’s logical, I’ll perform the same magic and you’ll be right again.” But instead they say what is in all their textbooks, which is, “Do 5 million calf raises and in a few weeks you’ll be cured.” But it doesn’t work like that. My calves are not weak. They’re huge. With muscle. They’re pretty strong too.

After being reminded of The Best Physio Ever, I was thinking why I can’t find any other professional who thinks along the same lines. Then I remembered…. quite a while back, maybe in 2006 or 2008ish, a physio caused a huge stir on a running forum re referred back pain. A lot of runners, physios and podiatrists got all uppity because someone they didn’t know what telling them something they didn’t know or believe, and it was quite funny to sit back and watch the flaming. Anyway, I know it’s referred back pain, because that’s how The Best Physio fixed me.

So yesterday I saw this forum-stirrer. I told him about The Awesome Physio. And he was like “Duhh, of course that fixed you.” And I told him about the stupid calf raises that everyone else suggests, and he was like “WasteOfTime.” And I was like phew.

So he dug into my back – all along my spine, in fact, to also make my scapulas happy too. Then he told me to go for a run.

Well, I didn’t, because it didn’t really fit with my training plan, and it was raining a bit outside. But so far I have a billion % improved extension in my right FHL, which has been one reason why I haven’t even been able to walk with correct gait in years. Now I can. The toe is still a bit uncomfortable, and I’m still clicking it. I also still get the odd shooting nerve pain in the achillies area, but I’m most impressed with the improved big toe extension. And once my GPS is charged up I’m off for a run to test it out 🙂

He also gave me a nice thoracic/lumbar/hip combo flexion and rotation exercise. I like this, because the movement is similar to a video course on sacral decompression I have. But this video I have teaches you how to do this on others, and it’s kind of impossible to do on yourself. This hip rotation is like a modification of it, but you just do it yourself as part of a warm up or cool down in front of the telly.